Reverse Birthday
by Aurorica
Summary: They didn't really know when Rex's birthday was, but that wasn't going to stop Holiday from letting Rex have something normal for once. In return, Rex would show them how he felt about the people he secretly called his 'family'. Family fluff. One-shot.


**A/N: Set before the series in general for a time when Rex turns fifteen. Fic written just for fun, 'Generator Rex' copyright Man of Action. God, I love fluff. I can't help it.**

No one at Providence knew on what day Rex was actually born. It went with the territory of not knowing one's past in general. Through tests, Doctor Holiday could guesstimate the year and quite possibly the month of Rex's birth, but not much more accurate than that. Sure, Rex would be thrilled to know which day he officially became a member of the world, but until then, he would just have to settle for the day that he became a ward of Providence. Rex remembered it well, considering it was one of his earliest memories.

Rex wasn't the only one that remembered though – for Doctor Holiday and Agent Six, it was the day that they were officially assigned to be Rex's physician and handler. Holiday, of course, was excited at the prospect of working with an EVO who could control his nanites and be able to help those in need. Six, on the other hand, could not have felt more over qualified to be some ten-year-old's babysitter twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

The first few years with Providence seemed to pass by fairly quickly from the view points of Holiday and Six. They watched Rex grow taller, older, and more mature (though questionably by Six's analysis). So by the time the anniversary of Providence taking in Rex came around again that year, Holiday deemed it past due time to celebrate it like a birthday.

"We are not his parents, Doctor. I hope you realize this, don't you?" asked Six after he heard Holiday's proposal. From Holiday's lab in the tower, they looked down to the Petting Zoo below where Rex was doing a few laps around the containment.

"Of course I do," said the doctor, her arms crossed under her chest, "but as I've said in the past, we need to stop treating him like a _thing_ and more like a _person_. He is a person if you haven't noticed – he's got a beating heart and everything; I checked." She was starting to get tired of Providence's views of certain people, whether or not they work for the organization. "This is what normal people do, Six, and I'll be damned if we don't give him a reason to feel just a little bit normal," she finished, forcing her emotions to stay in check.

Agent Six gave a small internal sigh, as he knew he wasn't going to win this battle against the doctor. He learned years ago that when the good doctor made an argument, it was a valid one. He continued watching Rex through the glass window as the teenager rode through the Zoo, leaving a dust trail in his wake. _He's taking those turns sharper than before. He's getting better at riding that thing,_ thought Six.

"Fine," he finally told the doctor as he focused on her, "Do what you think is necessary. And I'll need that report of Rex's biometrics to give to White later."

Six turned to leave as Holiday said softly to his back, "Just be sure to get him something."

The agent stopped and looked over his shoulder, "White?"

Holiday rolled her eyes a bit before correcting the man, "Ugh, _Rex_." The agent was going to protest, but Holiday stopped him, "It doesn't have to be anything extravagant, Six; just a little something. And to make sure you don't end up getting him _socks_, I'll send Bobo to keep an eye on you," she said with a little smirk before she turned back to the window to view Rex making donuts in a small grass clearing. He really was getting a handle of that bike.

A solid week had passed since Holiday's suggestion of a birthday celebration, and now it was the day of said celebration. She had already filled in Bobo on the details, and sent him along with Six when the man decided to finally go out and look for a gift for Rex. When Bobo and Six both returned to the lab, they each had a small unwrapped package in their hands. Holiday strode over to the two to see what each had got to give to Rex that day. Taking Bobo's from his hand, she examined it briefly before giving the chimp a slightly annoyed look, to which he just smirked. Handing it back, she opened the box Six pushed her way and closely viewed it for a few moments and gave the agent a warm smile... to which he remained his usual stoic self.

"I've got some wrapping paper over on my desk; I'll wrap these up," she told them.

"So what'd you get him, Doc?" asked Bobo, climbing onto one of Holiday's desk where she unrolled a bit of red paper.

"You'll just have to wait and see," she stated, pointing to her already wrapped gift. She finished wrapping the gifts the men bought while shooting down Bobo's attempts at finding out what was inside the box Holiday planned to give to Rex. "Just give it up," she said again, "Alright, we're ready, I'm going to call him to the lab."

Through her com-link, Holiday heard Rex tell her, "Tests. Fun. Uh, just give me a minute, okay?"

"Alright, see you in a few. Holiday out," she replied.

Sure enough, in a few minutes, Rex entered the lab in his t-shirt and jeans to find Holiday, Six, and Bobo around the exam table where Rex usually had his scans done. As he got closer, the three turned to see him and as Holiday moved to the side, Rex saw the small pile of red-wrapped boxes.

He smiled as he stopped before the table, "Happy Birthday, Rex," Holiday said, pushing forward Rex's gifts, "I believe these are for you."

"Open mine first," said Bobo as he picked up a small, squishy package and handing it to the teenager. Rex pulled off the red wrapping and after seeing the gift, he and Holiday gave Bobo an annoying look.

"Wow, Bobo. You shouldn't have. Socks. Just what I wanted," said Rex while Bobo chuckled.

"Actually, you _do_ need them," he said, still laughing lightly.

Rex just shock his head, sighed, and let a smile slip back on his face, "Thanks, dude."

"Alright, how about mine, Rex," said Holiday. She handed him a larger box, to which he quickly ripped off the wrapping and threw at Bobo. Placing the box on the table, he lifted up the lid, pushed aside the tissue paper inside, and smiled widely. Rex let his hands run down the red fabric before pulling it fully out of the box. Holiday had to smile back as he swung the red and orange jacket over his shoulders and slipped his arms through the sleeves. It fit him _perfectly_. He looked at himself as best he could, holding out his arms and taking it all in.

"Whoa... Thanks, Doc. This is awesome," Rex told her.

Smiling warmly at him, she said, "I'm glad you like it. I figured you would." She and Rex turned away and glanced down at the last gift on the table; a small box the size of Rex's fist sat there alone. As he reached down, Holiday told him, "It's from Six."

Lifting it to his face, he pulled off the paper from the last gift and opened the box. He wasn't entirely sure what to say, as he had never asked for something like it before. Pulling out the brown and gold goggles, he ran a thumb over the smooth, shiny surface, looking at his own reflection. He finally smiled and pulled them over his head, pulling the straps so they fit just comfortably.

"With you flying and riding around out there haphazardly," explained Six while Rex adjusted the new goggles, "I figure you need to be ready for anything that comes your way. Can't have dust getting in your eyes while fighting EVOs."

"That why you wear the shades?" asked Bobo.

"Could be," replied Six plainly while Bobo gave a muffled "Hmph."

Rex couldn't stop smirking, he had never been given gifts quite like this – at least, not that he can remember if he ever did before five years ago. Either way, he was happy now that the people closest in his life would recognize a day that he held to be fairly important, even if it wasn't his 'actual' birthday as far as anyone knew.

"These babies are _sweet!_" said Rex happily, a bit to Six's surprise.

"Who knew the Green Man had style?" Bobo commented. Everyone besides Agent Six chuckled at the comment, knowing it was all too true that the always green agent wasn't one for fashion. Or a change in clothing tastes every once in a while for that matter.

"I don't know, Bobo," Rex said as he pulled the goggles onto his forehead, "Those katanas are pretty stylish. Anyway; thanks, Six."

Six gave a curt nod in recognition. As far as any of them knew, Rex would hardly go a day without wearing the jacket and goggles – and they would be perfectly fine with that.

Rex thanked them all again before he said, "Now it's my turn." With that, Rex picked up a package of his own that none of them seemed to notice him bring in.

"Seems to me like great minds think alike, Doc," he told her, looking into her eyes with his usual puppy-dog love. She raised an eyebrow in wonder at Rex's remark when she took the flat, wide package wrapped in newspaper.

"I know it's _my_ birthday," he explained to Doctor Holiday as he shifted weight between his feet slightly, "well, sorta. And from what I've seen on TV, it's unconventional for _me_ to give a present... but since we don't do Christmas or anything... I just wanted to do something. For you guys, that is."

Holiday smiled at him and pulled away the makeshift wrapping. Inside, she saw that it was a small collage of different photos, all starring the four Providence agents. Each photo had a small frame and was neatly placed so that no photo overlapped, and everyone was present. She held it to her face and squinted, asking, "Are... those...?"

"Surveillance photos," Rex finished for her. "It's not like I have a camera, and we don't pose for pictures, ya know, at all. Except for our Providence IDs, but those don't count."

Holiday laid the piece on the table as the team gathered around to take a closer look, even Six leaned in a fraction of an inch. Doctor Holiday had a small smile playing on her lips as her eyes moved from photo to photo. She let a small laugh slip when she looked at a photo of Rex letting the security camera know what he thought of it.

Holiday spotted a few more that struck her as cute: He was ten and she was forced to chasing him down the hallway as he tried to escape the needle she was holding. Her long fingers traced the frames of the photos, remembering little times that seemed insignificant to most, but they were the ones that defined the awkward family they made up. Whether it was one of her showing a twelve-year-old Rex a new EVO in the Petting Zoo, (one he would later name 'Blinky,') or a photo of her and Six simply talking with Rex, she loved them all.

Then she pointed a finger to a photo near the top and asked, "When did this happen?" The security camera caught a picture of a hallway where a calm-appearing Agent Six walked, one hand stuck in his pocket while the other carried a grinning, flailing eleven-year-old Rex over his shoulder.

Rex leaned in closer and laughed as he leaned his elbows against the table top, "Oh yeah, that was that time when I was eleven, and Bobo dared me to chug three cans of Coke we stole from one of the break rooms. He got me all hyped on the sugar."

Six slowly turned his head to face the chimp, "That was _your_ fault?" he said accusingly, his eyebrows lowering further.

"Hey, I how was I supposed to know the kid couldn't handle his sugar back then?" said Bobo in attempts to defend himself.

"Oh, I'm positive you knew exactly what would happen, _monkey_," retorted Six as he placed his hands on the edge of table and leaned into the chimp's face, "And I'm sure you knew that I would have to drag him back to his room – at nine at night and try to get him to go to sleep."

"He threatened to sedate me," Rex whispered to Holiday. She would have thought it was funny if she knew he wouldn't actually do it – and knowing Six, he just might have been pushed to do so.

Holiday put a hand gently on Six's arm, letting him know he could back up off Bobo. "_Anyway_," interrupted Holiday as she turned back to Rex, "Thank you, Rex. This is great; it really is." He smiled back and tried to keep from blushing a bit, "Happy Birthday."

They would have stayed that way if it weren't for the alarms suddenly going off in the lab. Six placed his hand over his ear, touching his com-link and waiting for instructions.

"We're heading to Miami – there's an EVO we need to take care of," he told them, walking swiftly towards the lab exit, Bobo on his heels.

Rex quickly turned back to the doctor before following Six out, telling her, "Well, looks like I'm finally going to get some action. Don't miss me too much now, Doc."

"Just be careful, Rex. As always," she told him as he ran out the door, his new jacket fluttering behind him before the doors slid shut.

Still smiling, Holiday picked up the framed collage and strode over to her main desk, her heels clicking along the way. She had to force herself to stop staring at the photos and to prop it up on her desk instead. She had work to do, which included two important men and chimp to look after as they battled only God-knows-what out there. But so long as they came home each day, she could be happy.

**Hope you enjoyed it. :3**


End file.
